


Blood Loss, Blood shed

by Spoiler1001



Series: Reaper chronicles [9]
Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X
Genre: Anger, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anti reploid values, Bleeding Out, Blood, Clothed Sex, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Grief, Hope, Scarring, Stress Relief, Symbolic blood, Symbolism, Torture, revival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-21
Updated: 2016-07-21
Packaged: 2018-07-25 21:04:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7547233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spoiler1001/pseuds/Spoiler1001
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An old enemy gets a hold of Reaper.  Hope dwindles as the chance of finding her alive diminishes. Relief and heartbreak are soon to follow as the only way to save her to kill her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blood Loss, Blood shed

Reaper knew she was in trouble. Zero, her Zero was on a completely different mission and X was elsewhere. Her signal was being blocked, leaving her without backup.

 

The figure in front of her looked like Zero, but his armor was black and his hair bleached white. She probably didn't even notice. Her gazed was locked on his expression. His deep red eyes memorized her like a cobra would with its prey. His canine teeth were sharp, like a feral wolf. Soon she was within a hair's breath of him.he grabbed her throat and lifted her, never breaking eye contact. Her pupils contracted. His smile widened.

 

“So...you're...the...girl...Sig...ma...talks....about…” The Zero replica said, but his voice was cracking and his speech was broken. He tightened his grip and red lines covered her skin, sinking into her eyes. He released her and she sank to her knees. He grabbed her hair to keep her from landing on her face. He felt behind her ear and took away her earpiece. He then gently put her down and threw the earpiece away from them. Tears flowed down her cheeks and on the floor around her had a red glowing light along the circuits.

 

Zero returned to HQ to a disturbingly serene scene. The navigators were quiet or were talking to their respective hunters. All except for a young girl who was frantically scanning area after area looking for someone. Zero recognized the navigator as Reaper's. His eyes widened in panic and raced over to the young girl.

 

She was blonde with blue eyes. Her dress was pink and she looked so child like. It made the adult panic on her face, almost heartbreaking.

 

“Pallette, what has happened?” Zero said concerned for both the young reploid and his lover.

 

“I lost contact with her. I C-can't find her, and I can't track her down to any one place” Pallette said, her voice going up in panic.

 

“Calm down, Pallie” Zero said, using Reaper's nickname for her.  

 

“I'm trying to… but I can't shake this feeling…” She said as a loud been resonated through the space between them. Both sets of eyes snapped up. Reaper's earpiece went off.

 

“Reaper. What happened?!” Pallette said, but on the other end was just static. No response. Zero’s heart sank. His blue eyes dulled as he thought back to all of the people he lost.

 

“I'm going after her.” Zero said with finality . Pallette nodded and rapidly tapped out a coordinate for Zero to be transported to.

 

It was a tropical forest, which Zero thought was weird. Mavericks haven't attacked this forest in years. He scanned the forest for signs of Reaper, but he found only her communicator. He looked from noon to midnight, memorizing the entire forest. All he found was a pool of blood. The pool stained a group of white roses. He plucked one to take to the lab for testing.

 

The black copy of Zero bit her, that much was clear. She numbly looked at him, blood soaking her clothes.

 

“awww… don't give me that look….your...nanites have been giving me...the ability to heal myself...I should thank you.” The replica of Zero cooed. Reaper didn't react. She couldn’t. He kept infecting more and more. His unique virus weakened her and the virus was soaking through the floor surrounding her. The ‘look’ he was talking about was a glazed and disconnected look and she has breathing shallowly. She had no idea how long she was with him, her world was just pain and exhaustion.

 

She had been missing for a few days now. The rose did infact have her blood. Zero was recovering from his exhaustion, Pallette having to force him to take a break.

Reaper was cold, or at least she thought she was. She was numb. The false Zero has stopped ingesting her nanites. Now she was just bound to a machine that was draining her antivirals. It was bleeding her dry in a sense.

 

She's been missing for a week now. All hopes for her safe return drained slowly drained. The three reploids closest to her were getting angrier and frustrated. They wanted answers. They weren't counting her with the dead yet. They had to find her body.

 

Reaper wanted to die. She knew it would devastate  Zero, but they started draining her ability to function. Her skin was pale and her eyes were fogged over. She couldn't cry anymore. Her tears dried up. She didn't react to the sound of someone walking towards her. The replica of Zero touched her cheek. She was limp, and didn't react to his touch at all. The replica pouted a bit.

 

“you're no fun anymore.” The copy of Zero sneered, the nanites he stole from her healing his voice and speech. She did not say a word to him. Her gaze was focused dead ahead. Eventually the replica backed away and walked out, leaving her hooked to the machines.

 

_Zero could feel a warm tropical breeze blowing around him. He didn't have his armor on, or a shirt, for that matter. He was relaxing on a beach. He looked towards the ocean. He only looked up when he heard someone walk next to him._

 

_"Hey, Hotshot." Reaper smiled down at him and sat next to him. She wore a white sundress and a headband made out if white roses. He scanned her with his eyes and his heart beat faster._

_Sticking out of her usually flat stomach was a baby bump. Reaper smiled and placed a kiss on his lips. He played with a ring on her finger and realised that he had one too. He was happy and pulled her close to him cradling her  against his chest. They laid there for a few minutes until she stood up to fix something to eat._

 

_He never heard such a blood curdling scream before in his life._

 

_Her blood was everywhere on her and there was a hole in the wall. The assailant was gone. All that was left was the bloody body of Reaper. He scooped her up and held her close, blood getting on him. He felt tears flow down his face and onto hers. He let his sobs escape his throat. The sobs drowned out the loud bangs that reverberated through him._

Zero woke up from his nap to see Axl banging on the charger.

 

“We're going to Antarctica. Gear up. Now.” Axl said, all joking gone from his tone.

 

“We've found her?” Zero's first coherent thought was.

 

“Yeah In Antarctica. There's an old maverick base.” Axl nodded.

 

Alarms blared. That's all she could tell. Her wounds, the bite he gave her reopened, making blood drip down onto the floor. Reaper stared at the drips of blood on the floor. She closed her eyes and thought of Zero. The real one, the one with the red armor and blue eyes. She tried to focus on his features and his blond hair. The image was fuzzy, but it was familiar. Despite her condition, she smiled. Then she passed out.

 

Zero growled when he saw her plugged into that damnable machine with that copy of him going too close to her. She looked all too pale, with the only color on her was a wound on her shoulder. She looked dead, but he could hear a soft breathing from her. The copy saw Zero and his smile grew.

 

“What took you so long?” He asked. He grabbed Reaper's face hard enough to indent her cheeks.

 

“Let her go!” Zero snapped. The replica pouted and let go of her face, her head rolling uselessly. She was still hooked to the machine. Green light was radiating from the machine, her antivirals were glowing. Zero glared at the Replica and crept towards Reaper.

 

The replica lunged at Zero laughing madly. Zero easily sidestepped. Zero then dashed toward Reaper and radioed in her location to Axl and X.

 

Zero sliced through her bonds and she fell to the ground with a sickening thunk. She slowly pushed herself up and wobbled to her feet. Axl and X rushed into to the room, lunging at the black armor duplicate. Reaper lost her balance and felt herself falling, but never felt the impact. Zero caught her and picked her up. Her head rolled uselessly and her eyes closed. Her breathing was even. Tears trickled down her cheeks. He ran out of the room cradling her. Her hair was dirty. Her clothes were ripped and torn. Blood stained what was left if her clothes.

 

“Reaper… Veronica...can you hear me. Oh god,  don't do this to me. I need you.” Zero whimpered. He wiped tear stains off of her cheeks. She stirred but didn't regain consciousness. Loud booms and bangs echoed but Zero didn't care. He just wanted her to wake up.

 

After a while of silence, Zero looked up to find Axl looking at Reaper. His eyes were anguished.

 

“She was going to go shooting with me, help me get better.” Axl said. “After the incident with red, she took me under her wing. I should have done something.” Axl’s body shook with the force of his tears. He was just a kid compared to the rest of them. Reaper's motherly instinct centered around Axl and it was one of the purest things he's ever seen. Now it was the most heartbreaking. Axl lost one parental figure he couldn't lose two.

 

“Axl…” Reaper rasped into nothing. Axl's eyes lit up.

 

“Mom! You're alright.” Axl almost cheered, but kept it at a whisper.

 

“N-Not yet. But I will be.” Reaper smiled. Sweat made her skin have a weak shine. X walked next to her and looked her over. He blanched. X and Zero shared a look.

 

“I'll bring the plane around, she'll get hypothermia if we walked  to it.” X whispered. X walked out with Axl on his heels. Zero watched them walk away. Once they were out of sight, Zero looked at Reaper, trying to access her injuries. She looked exhausted physically, but there's no telling what mental damage has been done to her. He gently put a hand on the wound on her shoulder. She cried out and coughed up blood. Zero took his hand away. Reaper calmed down but her eyes were looking blankly ahead, which for her was the ceiling. Her breathing was uneven and her heartbeat was not much better. Zero couldn't do much but watch her suffer.

“Zee…” She mumbled. Zero cupped her neck and gently lifted her to a sitting position. Her head slid under his chin. “Aren’t I supposed t’be cold?”

 

“No. You're supposed to be ok.” Zero kissed the top of her head. She let out a small whimper. Her hair was sticking to her skin.

 

“It's too warm. I'm too warm.” She continued.

 

“It's a fever.” Zero whispered, despite knowing that she only heats up like that when she got exposed to the virus. Her body was over heating and cooking her slowly.

 

“...Zero, he t-took my nanites.” She mumbled, drifting off slowly. Her eyes fluttered. Her breathing grew shallower. She touched her wound. “I may not recover completely.”

 

“But you will recover.” Zero urged. The two of them ignored the implied ‘I hope.’

 

After an uncomfortable amount of silence, the jet was moved next to the front door. Zero carried her to the plane outside, where she shivered closer to Zero for warmth. They put her on a medical table, where Zero never left her side. By the time they had gotten to H.Q., she had become unresponsive. She still had a pulse, but it was slowing.

 

“those nanites are extremely advanced. We cannot replicate the ones she lost to save her.” a nurse said to the three reploids. “We have her on life support now, but that's all we can do.”

 

“But the man who created the nanites could save her.” X said gritting his teeth. He had a gut feeling that this would be a nightmare.  

 

“He hates her and all reploids. What makes you think that he'll help us.” Zero said moving towards Reaper. Her face was ghastly pale. She was hooked to a heart monitor and had a breathing mask on. Zero brushed her cheek with his hand, and she leaned into his touch.

 

“It will reflect poorly on him. He'll help.” X muttered and walked out, Axl going with him. Zero stayed next to her , making sure she was still alive, if one could call it that. He pulled up a chair next to her.

 

Axl was driving the plane to the old lab. X was looking out the window of the plane. The air between the two was tense. Axl broke the tension first.

 

“She’ll make it.” Axl said to the two of them. X blinked at the sudden noise.

 

“I know but she was bled out, she'll recover physically but emotionally, she'll never be the the same.” X said.

 

“I know what you mean.” Axl said as he landed near the lab. The two of them walked to a recently rebuilt lab. A man with graying hair was standing with his back turned to the locked door. X, who had very little patience at this moment, Picked the lock with extreme speed. The two of them walked into the room.

 

“That door was locked for a reason, machine.” The man said without looking up from his work.

 

“I unlocked it. I don't have time to deal with you and your issues towards me, but Veronica needs your help.” X snapped.

 

“Oh? And what makes you think that I'll do anything for her?” the doctor sneered.

 

“Because if she dies it's because of the nanites failed. You published a paper on how your nanites were the greatest thing ever. What do you think will happen if word got out that your prized possession isn't as dependable as you claim? People won’t use them. What do you think will happen then…” X snapped.

 

“Fine! I'll deal with it.” Olympia snarled.

 

Zero was watching Veronica’s breathe. Her breath was getting even more shallow. Her skin was almost transparent. He was gripping her hand and she was getting cold. Her hair was sticking to her skin and her eyelids were fluttering. Zero brushed his hand against her cheek. Reaper leaned into his touch.

 

He pulled away when he heard the sound of footsteps. In walked Doctor Olympia and X. Axl waited outside.

 

“Zero. Wait outside with Axl.” X said, ignoring the human doctor. Zero gave a dark angry smirk. After a few minutes of no noise but the heart monitor beeping sporadically, Zero walked out. He found Axl looking blankly ahead.

 

“How you holding up kid?” Zero asked, standing next to him.

 

“I don't know.” Axl’s voice was in monotone. “She’s really been looking out for me and, along with X, trains me. If she died….” His voice cracked.

 

“I know what you mean. If she died tonight it would hurt all three of us in immeasurable ways.” Zero sighed.

 

“Do you think she'll make it?” Axl said.

 

“of course.” Zero said, hopefully. He wasn't normally an optimist, but he had to cling to the hope that she'll be ok. For the sake of his sanity.

 

Dr Olympia sighed as he examined Reaper’s poor condition.

 

“Dammit…” Olympia snapped.

 

“What?” X asked, sharply.

 

“... Her body is drawing too much energy from her nanites. Normally they could handle this strain, but by the looks of it the nanites were bled out, take that with the fact that some nanites were taken away, her body is trying to compensate for something that it doesn't have the means to.” The doctor sighed.

 

“Give her the ‘means.’” Zero said from the outside of the room, the door wide open.

 

“It won't be pretty. The new nanites would shut down and reboot her old nanites. This would stop and restart her heart.” The doctor snapped and pulled a small needle.

 

“How long will it stop her heart?” X asked.

 

“No more than ten minutes.” He stuck a needle into her neck. “My job is done.”

 

With that he left.

 

Zero glared at the doctor’s back. Then he dashed next to her. She was tensing up and her mouth was opening to say something, but no sound came out. The heart monitor beeped slower. But her breathing was steadily getting faster. Sweat rolled off of her forehead. Zero unplugged the heart monitor to stop it from showing that she flatlined. The two of them listened to her heart beat stop. Her tensing stopped and she let out a soft sigh. X stood outside and Zero listened to her body try over and over again to start again. Her silver hair went lighter and no longer had that bit of dark red roots, but her eyebrows were still that rusty red color.

 

After a couple of minutes her heartbeat evened out. Her breathing was even and her eyes were fluttering.

 

Zero collapsed to his knees. He had one hand gripping her bed, his fingers denting her bed. The other hand was covering his face, relief flooding through him. Tears hit the floor before he even knew he was crying. Zero was trembling. Then he started laughing, his voice cracking.

 

He looked up when he felt a hand gently run over her knuckles. He hesitated, giving himself a few seconds to compose. Then he slowly rose to face her.

 

Reaper eyes were a darker green now, but it was a more natural green, it was no longer like a filter, but like her eyes were always green. She gave him a small smile. Zero responded by giving her a soft kiss. She responded in kind. X took the nonverbal cue and left the room. Zero pulled away and kissed where the replica had bitten her and she closed her eyes. Zero whispered something in her ear and pulled away, staying in the corner of the room. The doctors and nurses examined her and deemed her healthy and alive.

 

She was brought to Zero’s apartment and he carried her to the bed.  She looked at the ceiling but reached for Zero. Her hand gripped his.

 

The dam broke.

 

Zero slipped his tongue between her lips and pinned her wrist above her head. She smiled and let out a gasp. He took that as an invitation to deepen the kiss. It reached a certain point, the Zero pulled back.

 

“I think we should take it slow for tonight.” Zero whispered into her ear and kissed the scar of the bite on her neck. She bit her lip. He stopped kissing her and pulled her close to him.

 

She closed her eyes and ran her fingers through his hair. Zero pulled her closer. She smiled and kissed his jaw. Her green eyes opened and her smile widened.

 

“I love you.” She purred in his ear and Zero’s eyes snapped open. He ran his hand along her cheekbones and down her jaw, memorizing every detail about her.

 

She gasped when he dragged his hand over her figure. His smile grew.

 

“to hell with slow.”

 

Reaper giggled and felt him pull off her clothes. Soon she laid bare beneath him. Zero wanted to strip, but he wanted her so much more so he just pulled his clothes out of the way and thrust in.

 

Reaper gasped and smiled. She felt safe being surrounded by him. She felt the material of his shirt and pants rub against her and she sank into the bed. Zero peppered her chin and neck with soft kisses.

 

“Veronica.” He breathed against her. Reaper smiled softly at the mention of her name. She want to hear him say it again like that, but Zero tended to lose use of language when the two of them started.

 

She wanted to respond, but the feeling of Zero just being with her, embedded in her made her whimper and shiver. Then Zero began to move his hips. Reaper may have said something to him, but she didn't remember, she was far too gone to recognize her own voice.

 

Zero chuckled at what she probably said and brushed her hair out of her face. She looked older, without losing her youthful features. Her freckles were still there. Zero fought the urge to just kiss every single one separately and focused on moving his hips against hers to find that one-

 

Reaper let out a cry of absolute jubilation.

 

He found it. Found the one spot in human females that makes them forget about the world. He smiled down at her. Her eyes were closed and pleasure was apparent on her features. She looked angelic. Zero nuzzled her face and gripped her hips as he sped up without getting rougher with her. She looked like porcelain underneath him. He didn't want to break her.

 

He kept hitting her sweet spot and now she was unbelievably close. After one good thrust of Zero's hips, she unraveled under him and Zero climaxed soon after.

 

Zero didn't pull out, instead he just held her closer as they both came down from the high. Reaper was panting slightly and Zero was wrapped around her, holding her close to him. His eyes were closed and he let out shuddering breaths. Reaper placed a kiss on Zero’s lips.

 

“I'm sorry I took so long.” Zero whispered. Reaper let out a bitter laugh.

 

“Don't be.” Reaper whispered back. Then she sighed as Zero pulled away. He fixed his clothes and tossed her an oversized shirt. She slid it on and ran her fingers through her hair. Her green eyes were bright and even though her lips weren't upturned, she had the biggest smile on her face.

  
Zero grinned back and laid next to her on the bed.


End file.
